Villarreal at Celta: La Liga GAMETHREAD

Get ready for digitized fans in the stands like it’s FIFA 2004 and ‘Red Morning Light’ is the title track. Get ready for fake fan noise, water breaks, and players who may not be entirely be in shape. Things may not be at their absolute best but a round ball will be kicked at a rectangular net and men from Villarreal will be trying to defeat men from Galicia, it may not be football in the fullest sense, but it’s La Liga and today, that’s good enough.

We’ll try to keep a conversation going in the comment section, feel free to contribute. We are entering an era of football that is unique in the game’s glorious history, and the way things are handled over the next couple months, we will one day tell kids, grandkids, and random people who don’t care at the retirement village about. I’ve had mixed feelings about the process leading up to this point but today I’m so excited to see some footy I can’t hardly contain it.

Will the teams spring tactical surprises? Will players be able to go the full 90 minutes? Will there be new stars that erupt onto the scene after this break? We’ll have a better idea after today.

Valencia dropped points yesterday, which is good for us, but Granada winning wasn’t great so the pressure is squarely on our shoulders to go out and get a win to stay in the race for Europe.

Lineups:

Minor surprise for me personally as Zambo starts over Trigueros, but I’m glad to see him in the 8 role and not forced to sit back as a ‘defensive’ mid. If we’re really honest Santi should probably be coming off the bench and Trigueros and Zambo should start together, but that’s a controversial take for another day.

In the second half, if things are close, Sisto could be a danger man off the bench. Keep an eye on that one.

Endavant!